Skulls and Hearts
by StormWolf77
Summary: Tenten is abused by her father every day. But one day, something changes her life. Something that is totally unexpected... R&R please! :D
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. I'm making a pirate fiction (obviously.) MWAHAHAHA! Um… anyways, here's the story.**

**Gai: Not so quick! Wait for me, Gai!**

**Me: …**

**Gai: The bad part of this story is that I'm not one of the main characters. However, watching young blossoms fall in love is one of the most youthful experiences ever!**

**Me: …**

**Gai: And furthermo-**

**Me: *Ahem.* ANYWAYS. Here's the story.**

Chapter 1

_Tenten's POV_

I grumbled a little when my dad shoved me another pack of grain to sell at the market. "What am I, a mule?" I muttered crossly, just loud enough for him to hear.

He glowered at me. "Little girls like you have to do work all the time. _I_ bet that you can't find a girl around this neighborhood that _doesn't_ do work." He glared at me and added another huge bag of grain for me to carry.

_Sure. I bet Karin doesn't have to do as much work as _I_ do._

**You're right!**

_Who the heck are you? Where'd you come from?_

**I'm your inner, and I came from your brain. It's so small and cramped there. You really should study more and get a bigger brain.**

_Wherever you came from, shut up and go back there._

**Aye aye, captain.**

Suddenly, a sharp stinging pain fell upon my cheek. I snapped out of my trance and glared at my dad, who had obviously just slapped me. "I'm going, sheesh. No need to get so violent, buster." I muttered the last part just loud enough to for him to hear before I slammed the door behind me so he couldn't yell at me anymore.

The long winding path in front of me led over the horizon where the sun was rising. _Oh great. Every day has to be hell, doesn't it?_

_Neji's POV_

I looked around the marketplace for gunpowder, my gold coins clinking in my pocket. Tsunade had instructed me very carefully. "Don't talk to anyone. Buy your gunpowder and leave. We don't want anyone getting suspicious why we're buying this kind of stuff."

I snorted. Yeah. Like I didn't know all that. Like I didn't know that I was a pirate. Young as I might be (14), I still knew how to work properly on the ship. But nooo, Tsunade had to send me to the market to buy gunpowder for her. I'm not a mule, lady. I'm a _boy. _God.

"Baka."

I turned around to look at the person who said that. She was a little shorter than me, with two Chinese buns on top of her head. She didn't look at me in particular, but she was glaring at everyone. The girl began rubbing her shoulders as she dropped the two packs she was carrying. "God. He's so lazy that he has to send his own daughter to the marketplace weekend to sell his wheat and grain for him. And _then_ he complains what a waste of space I am."

I smirked at her. Idiot herself. Why didn't she just not do it then? What she did was none of my concern, though. I had to get my gunpowder.

Turning away, I saw a little stubby man with a sign that said, "GET YOUR GUNPOWDER AND CANNONS HERE." I smirked at his chubbiness when he knocked over a barrel of gunpowder. Baka.

Walking over to the stubby man, I said, "I'll take two medium barrels of gunpowder. Here's your gold coin. Keep the tip."

"What?"

"I _said,_ here's your gold coin. Take it and give me the gunpowder."

"Um… Okay." He squinted at me. Was he mental? Why was he giving me that look? He shrugged and handed me two barrels of gunpowder and I handed him a gold coin.

"For an extra gold coin, I'll help you carry the barrels." He announced, fingering his gold coin in his hand while eyeing my pocket greedily. "It's a good deal for a weak little runt like yo-"

**Pow.**

He never finished his sentence. I punched him hard across the jaw, making onlookers gasp and point. I didn't really care though. "Don't. Call. Me. Weak." I growled, glaring at him. He gave a little groan and didn't reply. Serves him right.

Smirking, I picked up a barrel in each arm while giving a little grunt. Then I headed back toward the docks to my ship.

I didn't really attract that much attention, so I wasn't really breaking the rules, was I?

_Tenten's POV_

A loud gasp sounded behind me. I whirled around from where I was studying a kunai knife to find a couple of fat ladies covering their mouths. Behind them was a boy who was glaring at a chubby little man, who had a slightly bloody jaw and wasn't moving. Muttering something darkly, he turned around and walked away.

I rolled my eyes. Stuck up snot, wasn't he?

Turning back to the kunai knife, I gave a little sigh. The high-quality kunai knife in my hands had a little tag that said, "20 bronze coins or $100." 20 bronze coins or $100? That was pretty expensive… I measured the knife by throwing it onto a target 15 feet away. It landed perfectly in the center. Perfect balance. I walked over to get it and tossed it from one hand to another. Then I examined the shiny metal. I carefully pressed my finger against the blade. Two drops of blood appeared on my finger. Oops. Smart of me, wasn't it? But… It had perfect balance AND a very sharp and shiny blade. The handle was also very easy to grip onto… I was practically drooling now.

Wait. Why was I examining a knife? I was supposed to be selling my grain…

"Hey you! Nice shot!" Someone behind me yelled. I turned and found a blond lady smiling at me.

"Um… Thanks." I muttered. "It was nothing really. Just a really nice knife."

Curious. She was still looking at me. "I'll buy that knife for you and a couple of other weapons… If you join us."

"What is 'us'?" I asked her.

"I'm a pirate." She said, leaning in a little closer. "Not a really dumb kind, no. More like a bunch of robbing sailors. But we fight just as well. So, will you?"

I was tempted to say yes. I hated my father. Anything to get out of his reach, his beatings, his hard work…

But another part of me said, "No, Tenten. No way."

_What should I say?_

**I would say yes.**

_YOU!  
><em>

**Don't need to sound so surprised. God.**

_Should I?_

**Yes.**

_Why?_

**Oh, just a suggestion. I'll tell you my reasons later.**

_Hmm… Fine._

"Okay." I told her.

She smiled. "Great. I'm Tsunade, who are you?"

"Tenten."

"Good. Do you want to pack up or anything?"

"I don't have anything at home that I need. Or want."

"Good. Here are a couple of coins-" She handed me a pouch of gold coins "- and I'll expect you to be at the dock in 10 minutes. Our ship… well, you'll know which one it is when you get there."

She waved me a small good-bye and headed away towards the sea.

What have I gotten myself into _now_?

**Well, what do you think of it? Please review and tell me! I know the first chapter is boring, but the later on chapters will be more interesting. I promise.**

**Gai: They probably won't like it because I'm not in the first chapter.**

**Me: *Glares.***

**Gai: Just saying! God!**


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2

I walked briskly to the docks, fingering my new kunai knife. A few merchandise people were yelling, "Oranges! Fresh shipped oranges straight from Florida!" or "Old rags! 20 cents each old rag! Good for shining your furniture!"

As I walked there, I bought myself a couple of new knives.

The dock was huge. There was no other word for it. I could see what Tsunade meant by, "You'll know the ship when you get there." A huge, magnificent ship was docked onto land with the words "Tsunade Treasure" carved clearly in the side.

"Tenten! Here you are!" Tsunade shouted, running over to me. "We have to leave! Come on!"

"Sure, coming!" I shouted back, breaking into a sprint towards the beautiful ship.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"All right, guys, settle down! This is Tenten! She's joining us today!" Tsunade called.

On the ship were a bunch of children my age: A pink haired girl and a blonde were shooting arrows at a target. A blonde haired boy was fighting (and apparently losing) a dummy while a blushing girl was watching him. Chicken butt hair was glaring at everyone. Then there was a green guy who was running around the pinkette in circles, apparently making her very annoyed. A creepy guy with dark hair and glasses was hunched in a corner, studying bugs (weirdo!) There was also a boy with a dog next to him practicing using a spear. And… there was that weird guy who got into a fight in the market place. He was the stuck up brat I saw at the market.

At Tsunade's yell, everyone fell silent and all eyes turned to me.

"Sakura! You'll show this girl around. I'm going to my room." Tsunade yelled. She turned heel and stalked off up the stairs.

Sakura and the others turned to me. "Hey! I'm Sakura. The pig next to me"- she pointed at the blonde girl- "is Ino."

"Hey! I'm not a pig, forehead!"

"Pig!"

"Forehead!"

"Pig!"

"Billboard!" 

"Argh! Anyways, the blonde haired boy is Naruto." Sakura told me, pointing at the extremely bad fighter.

"Hey!" He yelled to me, while he stabbed the dummy again so hard that it bounced back and made him tumble to the floor. (**A/N: Lol, Kung Fu Panda.**)

"That's"- point – "Hinata. She's always kind of shy, but she actually a really good healer." Sakura announced, while Hinata began to blush. Seriously, girl, what's with all the blushing?

"That's Shino and Lee. Shino is the guy who is in the corner, studying bugs. Lee is the guy who keeps running around me in circles." Sakura pointed to each one as she spoke.

When Shino heard his name, he raised his hand as a greeting but did not turn his eyes off the bugs.

"HELLO YOUNG AND YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM TENTEN!" Lee shouted practically in my air. "I AM VERY EXCITED TO HAVE YOU ON MY SHIP NOW!"

"Um… thanks?" I muttered back to him, glancing at Sakura to look whether I should laugh or look sincere. Sakura smirked.

"That's Kiba. He loves his dog Akamaru, so Tsunade let him have a dog as a pet instead of something bigger." Sakura shrugged. "I haven't gotten my animal yet. But you should ask Ino for her pet." She smirked.

Ino blushed slightly. "I have a, er, pig as my pet. Sakura loves to tease me about it- but then again, she's the one who got it to me. Well, technically Kiba gave her the money to buy him."

Sakura smirked again at the sound of her name, while Ino blushed at Kiba's.

"My pig is a really good healer. Very cute too. Not so fat either, like some pigs are."

"Oink?" I hadn't noticed the little pig at my heels, but it WAS really cute. And I could swear it winked at me. I smiled down at it.

"I had to beg Tsunade multiple times not to kill it for breakfast. Or lunch and dinner. But now Tsunade likes having him around to keep her company, especially after it saved her life." Ino bent down and scratched the pig behind the ears, and the pig seemed to enjoy that.

"Really? How?" I asked.

"Well, there was this one time where I accidentally pushed her off the ship. It was really shallow, but Tsunade kind of freaked out. Then Doggy here-"

"Doggy? You named your _pig_ DOGGY?" I almost shouted.

"Well, yeah. I named it after Akamaru-"

Here Sakura got a devilish smirk on her face while Ino blushed.

"-and he's really cute too. Anyways, Doggy jumped off too. And this pig can _swim._ Like swim in the Olympics type of swim. He jumped off and grabbed her my her jacket and kept her up until we threw a net down and hauled them back up."

I nodded, fascinated about the story about Doggy.

"Oh. And that's Neji. He's very antisocial, so you should keep away from him." Sakura said, pointing at the guy at the marketplace.

"I heard that." Neji said.

Sakura blushed.

A sudden, lurching movement took me by surprise. I looked around wildly, crying, "What the hell is going on?"

Sakura and Ino giggled at my surprised expression while Hinata answered me. "That… That's the s-ship setting sail."

Right then Naruto sneaked up behind her and captured her in a bear hug. "HEY HINATA!" He yelled. Poor Hinata. She looked like she was going to faint.

Ino cleared her throat. "Er… We should go up and help Lee, Shino, and Kiba-" Here she blushed at his name "-with the sails. Umm… Coming Tenten?"

I didn't notice that Lee, Kiba, and Shino weren't here until I looked closer. "Sure."

Sakura muttered, "What happened to ME?"

Hinata blushed.

Neji looked at me and said darkly just loud enough for me to hear, "She's not going to be able to catch up with our fighting skills. Her balance isn't good, and she doesn't look very fast or strong."

I glared at him. "Shut. Up. My balance is better than yours."

He smirked at me. "Yeah?"

Ino pulled me away before I could say anything. "Come on, Tenten! Let's go!"

I muttured darkly and shot him a death glare while he stared at me with a 'who-does-she-think-she-is' look.

When I reached the top deck, Ino told me, "You do NOT want to mess around with Neji. Sakura and I tried it once. Don't think about it."

I nodded, but muttered, "How am I supposed to with he being such a big dork?"

Ino shrugged. "Just cope." The ship gave another big lurch and I ran over to the edge and waved farewell to the people at deck while Ino rolled her eyes at me. "You're acting like a little kid."

Then I saw him.

My dad. And he was looking straight at me.

**:) Well, that's it for my second chapter. I would really appreciate it if you reviewed. :D**

**~StormWolf**


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